Old friendships will mean nothing when Aaron Cresswell steps on to the DW Stadium pitch for Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup fourth-round tie with Wigan Athletic.
The West Ham United defender will come up against two very familiar faces in the game in Latics midfielders Max Power and Gary Roberts, but says there will be no room for sentiment with a place in the last 16 at stake.
With Wigan sitting top of EFL League One and having beaten Premier League AFC Bournemouth in the third round, though, Cresswell is well aware of the threat his pals will pose.
“Wigan have got some really good players and I know Max and Gary really well, as both of them are from where I grew up in Merseyside,” the No3 explained.
“I played alongside Max at Tranmere. He was two years younger than me coming through the youth ranks, but he was always playing a year ahead of himself as he was a big lad and had great ability and he’s done really well since then. He’s been with Wigan for a while now and is a really good, strong midfield player in a good squad of players who look like they are going to take the club back up into the Championship this year.
“A few of my mates know Gary well, as he grew up not too far from me and I also played against him a few times when I was at Tranmere and he was at Huddersfield and stuff like that.”
Cresswell and his West Ham teammates have already overcome one promotion-chasing League One side in Shrewsbury Town, but it took a replay and extra-time to overcome the Shropshire club.
And the England international says the injury-hit Hammers will need to be at their very best if they are to send the 4,500 travelling supporters back to east London with smiles on their faces.
“This tie is potentially going to be even tougher than the third round, when we took two games to get past Shrewsbury.
“People might think games against lower-league opposition are easier, but they’re not, especially against a team like Wigan, who are flying this season and haven’t lost many games.
“They beat Bournemouth in the last round, so we know going there is going to be a tough test. It’s not so long ago that Wigan actually won the FA Cup, so we know this is going to be a tough game, but it’s one we want to win.”